StockNews.com Lowers AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on AXTI. Craig Hallum increased their target price on shares of AXT from $3.75 to $5.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of AXT in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and set a $5.00 price target on shares of AXT in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on shares of AXT from $3.80 to $5.50 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AXT has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $5.38.

AXT Trading Down 18.5 %

Shares of AXTI opened at $2.68 on Wednesday. AXT has a 12-month low of $1.89 and a 12-month high of $5.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $3.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.99 million, a P/E ratio of -7.02 and a beta of 2.28.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The semiconductor company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.02. AXT had a negative net margin of 21.01% and a negative return on equity of 7.40%. The firm had revenue of $27.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.50 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.12) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that AXT will post -0.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in AXT by 28.7% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in AXT in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Keystone Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in AXT by 4.3% in the second quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC now owns 202,223 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $684,000 after purchasing an additional 8,333 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in AXT in the first quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its position in shares of AXT by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 37,387 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 11,892 shares during the last quarter. 49.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About AXT

AXT, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and distributes compound and single element semiconductor substrates. The company offers indium phosphide for use in data center connectivity using light/lasers, high-speed data transfer in data centers, 5G communications, fiber optic lasers and detectors, consumer devices, passive optical networks, silicon photonics, photonic integrated circuits, thermo-photovoltaics, RF amplifier and switching, infrared light-emitting diode (LEDS) motion control, lidar for robotics and autonomous vehicles, and infrared thermal imaging.